June 2, 2010

Codgers

Dear Stodgy Old-Timers:

There are two must-read articles in The Washington Examiner
about the ballpark fiasco. The first is about how the tax that was
supposed to be dedicated to paying off loans for building the baseball
stadium is instead being raided to add to the general fund, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/The-ballpark-tax-that-came-to-stay-95268049.html.
Of course it is; didn’t we predict it? The DC government has a
voracious, never-ending appetite for money, and you can’t trust any
promise that any elected official makes about a dedicated fund. (The bag
tax and the Anacostia River Clean-Up Fund, remember?) The second article
is about how the phony promise of neighborhood revival through building
the stadium was an empty illusion, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Ballpark-renaissance-striking-out-in-D_C_-95284144.html.
Again, it’s just what we predicted. Governments are lousy engines of
economic development, among other reasons because they have no incentive
to do economically sound development. If a developer puts his own money
into a project, or his bank’s money into it, he has to produce, or he’ll
go broke and go out of business or get fired. The developer’s measure
of success is that a project is profitable. The politician’s measure
is success is just that the project gets built, whether it produces a
profit or not and whether or not it produces the spin-off benefits that
the politician promised. Politicians don’t gamble with their own
money, they gamble with ours; and they don’t put any value on our
money.

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Martin Austermuhle, of DCist, doesn’t like you and me, and his
dislike is shared by Martin Gross, formerly of DCist and now the
temporary, fill-in Loose Lips columnist at Citydesk. On Tuesday, Gross
wrote, http://tinyurl.com/2ewd6to:
“In Monday’s edition of DCWatch’s themail, Karl Jeremy says that
David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington and all those pesky tweeters
are in control of the DC budget and not DC councilmembers! DCist senior
editor Martin Austermuhle tweets: ‘Ugh. DCWatch’s themail has become
a sounding board for stodgy old-timers. There. I said it.’ Indeed you
did, Martin.”

I think they’re jealous. By and large, commenters to themail are
informed, intelligent, literate, and involved in the life of the city,
and your postings are informative, polite, and not obscene. By and
large, by contrast, the comments at DCist are . . . well, let’s just
say they are different.

#####

Another stodgy old-timer who agrees with Karl Jeremy is Harry Jaffe,
who wrote on Tuesday that, “Streetcars? Gimmicky, unnecessary;
unproved, and costly. Why try a 19th century technology to solve a 21st
century problem? But streetcars appeal to the yuppies. The idea tickles
their cute, toy city bone,” http://tinyurl.com/28xdesn.
As a side note, Jaffe normally supports Fenty, but he admits in this
article, “Fenty once was the favorite son whose political domain
spread from both banks of the Anacostia River west to the Potomac; after
spending his first term alienating most residents, his base is down to
the white folks he has yet to diss and his family members — and
favored contractors.”

#####

In the last issue of themail, which was sent overnight on Sunday, I
reprinted General John A. Logan’s General Orders No. 11, which first
declared Memorial Day as a day to decorate soldiers’ graves in
remembrance. On Monday morning, I opened the Washington Times to
find that it had reprinted General Orders No. 11 as its lead editorial.
This was entirely uncoordinated, but it was hardly coincidental; it was,
after all, Memorial Day.

On Thursday evening, June 3, three civic associations in Ward 3 —
the Cleveland Park Citizens Associations, the Foxhall Community Citizens
Association, and the Palisades Citizens Association — will hold a
candidates forum with three of the leading Democratic candidates for
mayor, Leo Alexander, Adrian Fenty, and Vincent Gray. The forum will
being at 7:30 p.m., and will be held at the Field School, 2301 Foxhall
Road, NW.

The sponsoring organizations had to change the location for the forum
at the last minute when Attorney General Peter Nickles intervened and
ruled that the civic organizations could not hold a candidates forum at
a DC public school facility, the Key Elementary School. The
organizations had completed the Application to Use DCPS Facilities, were
in compliance with DCPS’ policies and procedures for the use of school
facilities, and had been approved by DCPS’ Office of Realty. Then
Nickles intervened and overruled DCPS’ Realty Office and legal
counsel. The Attorney General’s office complained that the organizers
weren’t including all the Democratic candidates for mayor, and implied
that the meeting could be in violation of the federal Hatch Act and the
District’s campaign finance laws and regulations.

On May 15, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, chair of the council’s
Government Operations Committee, which oversees the Office of Campaign
Finance and the Board of Elections and Ethics, held her reelection
campaign at a DCPS facility, Murch Elementary School. The May 15 event
was a true partisan political event, while the June 3 candidates forum
is essentially a civic meeting. In both instances, DCPS’ Realty Office
held that both events met DCPS’s guidelines for the use of its
facilities. So what explains Nickles’ intervention to squelch the
mayoral candidates’ debate?

Over the past three years, Adrian Fenty has shown great deference for
developers who have helped fill his four million dollar war chest with
campaign contributions. Michael Neibauer’s article, “Fenty Picks
More Developers for Zoning Commission,” http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/05/31/story5.html,
casts light on Fenty’s design to ensure preferred development projects
are approved by the Zoning Commission.

Immediately after assuming office, Fenty’s pro-development agenda
came to light when he attempted to appoint Geoff Griffis to the Zoning
Commission. Thanks to a group of Cleveland Park residents who opposed
him, Griffis’ nomination was not approved. Never mind, Griffis remains
a close Fenty friend, supporter and ally. Stanley Wall and Greg
Selfridge, subjects of Niebauer’s article and Fenty’s latest
nominations to the Zoning Commission, are young and eager to feed at the
District’s development trough. A position on the Zoning Commission
assures doors will open for them in the future when hot development
opportunities present themselves. Meanwhile, these young “zoning
experts” have nothing on which to base their decisions except what is
whispered in their ears by fellow developers and the former Deputy Mayor
for Planning and Economic Development.

Don’t misunderstand, I appreciate the value of development and the
income it generates for the city, but decision makers need to place
value on individual investments in residential areas of the city. To
head the Office of Planning and advocate for development, Fenty named
Harriet Tregoning, a disciple of smart growth, who along with Mary Cheh
supports increased density throughout the city’s residential
neighborhoods. It is Tregoning’s staff who review and recommend zoning
cases to the Zoning Commission, and if that isn’t enough, folks, the
Office of Planning is also overseeing the rewrite of the Zoning
Regulations and amendments to the Comprehensive Plan.

Now you know. Fenty will continue to advance developers’ needs in
return for their largess. Already in key positions, Neil Albert, Harriet
Tregoning, and Jamie Weinbaum will continue to serve as the mayor’s
agents of change and guarantee needed zoning and land use
recommendations are approved by inexperienced members of the Zoning
Commission.

[See http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=51571,
“Federal Funds To Maryland For Snow Disaster Approaching $4 Million”:
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated
$3,898,000 in Public Assistance (PA) funds for the State of Maryland.
The funds will help in speeding the recovery process and help
jurisdictions return to normal operations. Costs associated with the
December 2009 severe winter storm and snowstorm will be reimbursed at 75
percent.”]

So Maryland is getting four million dollars in federal funds to help
reimburse Maryland for the snow last December. What is DC getting for
the December storm? This is just for the December storm; the February
storm was a separate event with separate federal funds.

Are you thinking of buying an Android phone (Google phone) from
Verizon? I can give you a free hour lesson using my Android phone —
and just ask that you let me tell Verizon I referred you. I receive a
$25 referral fee — and so do you — if that’s a route you’d like
to take.

I currently recommend the HTC Droid Eris over the Motorola Droid
phone. The HTC lacks the pull out keyboard, but I’ve not used the pull
out keyboard in the six months that I’ve had my Motorola Droid. The
Droid keyboard might have some appeal to teen texters, but I find it to
be almost unusable ergonomically. (The keys barely press down one
nanometer.) The HTC Droid Eris is less expensive than the Motorola Droid
— and matches it very closely in features.

Gary, I was wondering, as we head into the silly season could
postings from people campaigning and those supporting a particular
candidate be put in a different section, maybe before ads or with ads? I
was just going over some missed mails to read a piece by someone I’d
never heard of only to find out at the end he was running at large. That
and increasingly reading “interruptions” from the mayoral candidates
distract from the pleasure of the debate in the rest of themail. This is
sent as a faithful reader of themail, and not in any other capacity I
may have in life.

[What is the pleasure of themailers? Separate section or not? —
Gary Imhoff]

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InTowner

The Selected Street Crimes feature is available on our web site by
clicking the Street Crimes button directly below that for Community
News. It is now updated through May 4 and has been added to the archived
reports back to July 3, 2009.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Register now for Department of Parks and Recreation summer camps and
summer rec camps. Camps for children aged six through thirteen years old
are at various locations. They run Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00
p.m., from June 21 to August 20, and are free. Before and after care is
available for an additional cost. Register in person or online at http://summercamps.dc.gov
or http://dpr.dc.gov.
For more information, visit the Camp Office at 1480 Girard Street, NW,
or call 671-0372 or 671-0396.

June 3, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Barry Farm Recreation Center, 1230
Sumner Road, SE. Full Collaborative Meeting and Community Resource Fair
for all ages. At this event will recognize all Spring Summer Mini Grant
Awardees during the Business meeting that will be held at the Barry Farm
Recreation Center. During this event you will have the opportunity to
engage youth and their parents from the Ward 8 community about your
program we encourage you to use this time to register them for your
programs, Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC).

June 5, 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Guy Mason Community Center, 3600
Calvert Street, NW. Glover Park Day for all ages. Glover Park Day will
feature a fair, food, games, and fun activities for the kids. Also live
entertainment will be provided. For more information, call Caryl King at
282-2180.

June 5, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Riggs LaSalle Recreation Center, 501
Riggs Road, NE. Murals, Murals, Murals! For all ages. Participants will
work with “City Year” to help beautify, design, and paint murals.
For more information, call Shirleta Settles at 576-5224.

June 5, 12:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m., Ridge Road Recreation Center, 800 Ridge
Road, SE. Stop the Violence Day for all ages. Join Ridge Road staff and
the community for Stop the Violence Day. This event will provide food,
and games for the community. For more information, call Sonny Hicks at
645-3959.

June 5, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Douglas High School, 8000 Croom Road,
Upper Marlboro, Maryland. USATF Local Qualifier Meet for ages six
through eighteen. First of many meets where athletes from the Prince
George’s County South and Washington DC Region compete in track and
field events that qualify an athlete for the 2010 USATF Junior Olympics.
In order to qualify for the Association Championships, each athlete must
place in the Top 6 of their respective events. For more information,
call Edgar Sams, 671-0314.

June 5, registration at 10:00 a.m., meet begins at 11:00 a.m.,
Spingarn High School, 2500 Benning Road NE. DC Hershey Track and Field
Meet for ages nine through fourteen. DC Hershey Track and Field Meet is
a track and field event held for athletes aged nine through fourteen
that compete in running and field events. The time of winners who
qualify in their respective events will be submitted to the regional
committee to determine the participants who will advance to the National
Games. DC will have a minimum of five participants to advance to the
National Games Track Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

June 5, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Edgewood. Meet the MET, Community
Gardening and Clean up Event for all ages. Join the Friends of Edgewood
group in cleaning up the park area and installing a new community
garden. For more information, call Kelly Melsted, Director of
Environmental Initiatives, at 258-5337.

June 5, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Palisades Recreation Center, 5200
Sherrier Place, NW. Backyard Wildlife Habitat Workshops for all ages.
Discover the special environment of the Potomac Gorge with nature and
wildlife specialists from around the area. We will be planting River
Oats on a full sun slope overlooking the gorge. Workshop will consist of
lectures, site assessments, and a hands on session in which participants
plant a demonstration garden. Participants will receive a “habitat kit”
to get them started creating wildlife habitat at home. Register online
at http://www.ddoe.dc.gov/habitat.
For more information, call Kelly Melsted, Director of Environmental
Initiatives, at 258-5337.

June 6, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m., Turkey Thicket Community Center, 1100
Michigan Avenue, NE. Mystics Youth Summer Basketball League Opening
Ceremony for ages twelve through eighteen. The Washington Mystics, DPR,
and the Greater Washington Sports Alliances will have an opening
ceremony for the 2010 Mystics Youth Summer League at Turkey Thicket. The
Washington Mystics players and coaching staff will hold a coaches and
players basketball clinic for the forty teams and coaches who will
compete in the league this summer. The summer season starts June
21-August 15 at six DPR sites. For more information, call Toby Strong at
316-2385.

Join Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets for the first annual Dupont
Classic Car Show, part of Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets “First
Saturday” Events! Nearly twenty-five fantastically classic cars will
be on display from the Straight Eights Car Club, a local DC chapter of
the Lambda Car Club, this Saturday, June 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at
the PNC Parking Lot (site of the Dupont Farmers market at 1919
Massachusetts Avenue, NW). This event is free. More information on our
Facebook invite page at: http://tinyurl.com/337bwlb

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National Building Museum Events, June 8-9Johanna Weber, jweber@nbm.org

June 8, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Preparing for the Big One: Assessing American
Building Codes. Recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have reinforced
the importance of building codes. Are regions in the United States just
as vulnerable to a catastrophic earthquake? Representatives from the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Geological Survey, and the
International Code Council discuss the state of seismic building codes
around the country. $12 for members, free for students, $20 for
nonmembers. Prepaid registration required. Walk-in registration based on
availability.

June 9, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Smart Growth, Urban Green: Innovative Parks
for Resurgent Cities. For many years urban parks across the US sank into
decay and disuse. However, as cities have begun to rebound, investment
in these valuable facilities has increased. Peter Harnik, director,
Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land, presents
the newest ideas for cities to add much-needed parkland. A book signing
follows the lecture. Free, registration required. Walk-in registration
based on availability. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street,
NW, Judiciary Square Metro station. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.

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